Mean time at Greenwich
MY OWN CHESS club, Charlton, recently held a chess congress which attracted over 400 players as part of the Greenwich Festival. The tournament was held in a beautiful old 16th century house with magnificent grounds.
After a draw in round two, A. J. Miles ploughed through the field until the last round, where he met D. Rumens. Rumens had 5/5 and only needed a draw to win the tournament while Miles was after the, full point. And Although the queens came off on move 11, the spectators clustered around, standing on chairs and anything else available. A quiet, drawish game was not what they got.
Miles, A. J. - Rumens, D. - Charlton 1976
1.e4 Miles made this move but accidentally left the pawn positioned close to the d4 square. Rumens, a few minutes late and thinking the pawn, was on d4, replied 1... Nf6. Then he realised Miles had actually played e4, promptly retracted his knight and played 1 . . . e5 instead! Consequently, the first five minutes of this vital last round game were spent in great amusement by both players. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3!? Miles probably played this rarely seen move to avoid sharp lines in the Ruy Lopez which Rumens knows so well. 3...Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Ne4?! "Speculative, not to say hazardous" is the great Lasker's comment on this move. 6.Qe2 d5?! 7.exd6 f5 8.Nbd2 With advantage to White, say the books. 8...Bxd6? 8... Qxd6 is better. 9.Nxe4 fxe4 10.Qxe4+? And now the grandmaster goes wrong; 10. Bg5 gives him an excellent game. Perhaps he did not expect Rumens to swap queens and play on a pawn down. 10...Qe7! 11.Qxe7+ Bxe7 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.cxd4 Be6
Moves are clickable
Not a very exciting place for a diagram, but how can you assess the position? Can just one or two tempi compensate for the pawn? Well watch, as Rumens demonstrates that they can. 14.Bf4 O-O! 15.Be5 For if (15.Bxc7 Bb4+ 16.Ke2 Rac8 17.Bg3 Rc2+ 18.Ke3 Rxb2 and black is winning. ) 15...Bb4+ 16.Ke2 c5! Black insists on opening up the position no matter what the cost, to use his advantage in development. The technique is very instructive. 17.a3 Ba5 18.dxc5 Bb3! 19.f4 Rae8 Threat: Rxf4. 20.Kd3 Rd8+ 21.Ke3 Bd2+ 22.Kf3 g5 23.Be2 Bxf4? After playing so well Rumens misses his chance. Correct is 23... gxf4, keeping the two bishops to attack the white king stranded in the centre. In fact White's position would be so unpleasant that had Rumens played the move Miles was prepared to offer a draw. Now the GM doesn't give Rumens another chance. 24.Bxf4 Rxf4+ 25.Kg3 Kg7 26.Rac1 Rd2 27.Bf3 Be6 28.Rhe1 Kf7 29.c6 bxc6 30.Rxc6 Bd5 31.Rd6 Rd3 Hoping for (31...Rd3 32.Rxd5 Rfxf3+ 33.gxf3 Rxd5 with drawing chances. ) 32.Re5! Ruthless. 32...Rg4+ 33.Kf2! Miles makes it all look so simple. Why bother with a won rook ending when you can have a piece? (33.Kxg4 Bxf3+ 34.gxf3 Rxd6 and black can still play on. ) 33...Rxg2+ Rumens tries a last minute swindle. 34.Bxg2 An interesting game despite the flaws - in fact they make it even more instructive. 1-0